Nipple drinkers for small animals, particularly for poultry, have become popular in the last few years. Such drinkers are typically used with watering systems for poultry in cages, of for floor birds. One system in which the nipples can be utilized is shown in co-pending application Ser. No. 932,865 filed Nov. 20, 1986.
Two commercial nipples which have had significant sales in the past are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,606,301 and 4,637,345. While such nipples are practical from many standpoints, they either have some significant limitations or are more expensive to construct than desired. For example if a rubber or like elastomeric material is utilized as the valve seat in the nipple, it has a tendency to quickly wear out causing leakage. Also, such nipples typically are made of ABS plastic, and therefore require metal linings at portions thereof in order to prevent excessive wear of or damage to the nipple bodies. In some cases it is even necessary for the metal to extend outwardly from the nipple itself surrounding the pin actuator. Utilizing this much metal (typically stainless steel) is expensive.
According to the invention, expensive, excessive metal use is avoided by forming the body of the nipple drinker of a thermoplastic acetal (such as DELRIN.RTM.). In this way the amount of metal utilized can be minimized (restricted only to the seat, of the stationary components of the drinker) while still providing a drinker that will deliver a relatively constant amount of water over a long period of time without wearing out.
Further, in the above-mentioned nipple drinkers, typically the head of the pin co-acting with ball is concave. Under some circumstances it is desirable to make the head flat, but if it is flat there can be significant difficulties associated with precisely controlling the flow of water through the drinker. By properly dimensioning the components, however, according to the invention the head may be made flat yet the nipple drinker still accurately dispense liquid.
Because of production variations, it is often common for nipple drinkers, such as the ones discussed above, to have widely varying rates at which they deliver water to the birds, or other animals utilizing them. This is very undesirable. As procedures advance for growing chickens, it is becoming more and more desirable for the purchaser to know how much water is being delivered per unit time to make sure that the birds are getting enough water for the climate in which they are raised, while minimizing the amount of water that is wasted. According to the present invention, a procedure is provided whereby every single nipple drinker can be tested individually after assembly, and prior to use; and they can be classified depending upon the delivery of water thereby, so that the purchaser can know what type of water delivery to expect from the nipple drinker.
According to the invention there is provided a method of supplying nipple drinkers for poultry or the like comprising the steps of: (a) Producing the nipple drinkers each with a metal valve seat, metal ball, and metal valve pin, having substantially constant dimensions from nipple drinker to nipple drinker consistent with mass production techniques. (b) Testing each nipple drinker to determine the approximate number of drops of water it will deliver per unit time in use. (c) Rejecting nipple drinkers that do not deliver water between a predetermined minimum and maximum during testing. And, (d) classifying accepted nipple drinkers, those delivering water between the minimum and maximum, into at least two different groups depending upon the approximate number of drops of water per unit time they deliver during the testing thereof.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved nipple drinker, and a procedure for testing all nipple drinkers. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.